Summer of Depth Devotional Day 22

We are on Day 22 of our Summer of Depth Devotional and Reading Plan. As we enter into this moment with God right now, may you feel his peace and presence. Now, consider this question:

If someone asked you to describe God in just a few words, what would you say? Powerful? Holy? Loving? Just?

Those are all true. But today we get to hear how God describes Himself, and what He chooses to say tells us something incredibly important about His heart.

So, let's dive deep into His Word. You’re invited to slow down and read: Exodus 34:1–9.

Our first time in Exodus this summer, let’s look at our passage today to simply understand, be reminded of, and delight in who our God really is.

We see God passes before Moses, He has the opportunity to tell Moses exactly what He's like. He could have begun by talking about His power over creation, His authority over every nation, or His perfect holiness. Instead, He introduces Himself with these words:

"The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness..."

Don't miss how remarkable that is.

This isn't someone else's description of God. This is God's own self-description. If you've ever wondered what kind of God He is, these are the words He wants you to know first.

Sometimes, it’s easy for us to quickly and quietly build our picture of God from our personal experiences…the ups and downs of life…instead of from his word or his real character. Often times, if we've lived with harsh people, we often assume God is harsh. If we're impatient with ourselves, we imagine God must be impatient with us too. If we’ve had a good day, God must be good, but if we had a bad day, did we do something to make God mad?

But God says otherwise.

He is patient. Compassionate. Gracious. Faithful. He doesn't ignore sin, but neither is He eager to condemn. His heart consistently moves toward mercy. Throughout Scripture, we see Him patiently pursuing people who wander, fail, doubt, and begin again. And he’s the same God today as he was yesterday and the day before and the day he met Moses on Mount Sinai.

As we've been slowing down together this summer, we've talked a lot about our pace. But this evening, don’t worry so much about “slowing down” as this place of arrival. Consider it as simply as an invitation to reflect on the goodness of the character of the God we follow. As we spend time with Him, His patience begins to shape ours, and our understanding of Him grows deeper.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for being compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love. Help me to trust Your heart today and become more like You. In Jesus' name, amen.